29 May 2001

A small diversion now for a contribution from one of my readers regarding crows and a particular dog who thinks that a particular man who shall be nameless is an even bigger dog than he. On the intelligence of crowsI can vouch for this trait. I like to observe the antics of the huge gray-breasted ( Im sure there is an official name for them ) crows that frequent my garden, home to a simple but happy white terrier. The westie gets fed twice most days; morning and evening; the crows know this. I know because the crows like to observe the antics of the man and the dog that frequent the same garden. It works like this; At feeding time, even before I go out with the food bowl, there's often one or two, but rarely more than two of these crows perched on the electric wires, which run the length of the garden. It's quite obvious that they are watching and waiting. They seem impatient, not staying in one spot fore more than 30 seconds to a minute. They move from wire to pole to rooftop etc. in random succession. It almost seems like they are thinking, get on with it; we all know what comes next, and we are hungry. Then, when the food is out, they start their work. One will swoop down to the grass and land a safe distance from the eating dog. If the dog ignores him, he will hop a foot or so closer until the dog is enticed into giving chase. Then the other will take advantage of the confusion down below, and swoop in for the kill; a dog-nut or two, and loft away while the dog is at the other end of the garden wondering 'how come I can never catch a crow' they're just too clever to get caught by a simple white terrier The terrier is of course a good natured soul, and when he's had his fill, he either retires to one of his many chill-out spots, or merrily sniffs his way around the garden, and lazily ignores the crows as they cautiously steal the nuts from his food bowl. He sometimes even relaxes and watches them with a casual interest.It is therefore somewhat ironic that the only creature who genuinely worries this terrier is a man who shares a common interest with him; That is, they are both watchers of birds. But that's another story. He thinks I'm a bigger dog than he is!!!